The Pfister Hotel has a New Artist in the House

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Photo: URBN

Christopher T Wood

Christopher T Wood

In late March, the Pfister Hotel chose “pataphysical illustrator”Christopher T. Wood as its 13th Artist-in-Residence. Succeeding conceptual abstract artist Nykoli Koslow, Wood began his one-year residency at the Artist Studio, located in the historic hotel’s lobby, on April 1.

The Shepherd Express recently interviewed Wood about his work and his plans for his residency.

Can you tell me more about your artistic background, and connection to Milwaukee?

I’ve been working as an independent practicing artist since 2005, when I completed my MFA in Painting from Northern Illinois University. Prior to that, I earned a BFA in Visual Communication Design and Illustration from the University of Dayton. I had a studio in Chicago for six years, as well as a studio in Philadelphia for six years. In 2019, I landed in Milwaukee and plan to stay for quite a while longer than six years. It is a great city, and I feel very much at home here.

My practice is focused on long-term series-based drawing projects. My drawings respond to wicked problems—the hyper-objects we now face as a civilization—or sometimes to things like the shape of a pinecone wing or the paths mice use when traveling through an old home. I work with fundamental and elemental materials to examine the ineffable. For instance, graphite powder (carbon), paper, wind, rain, gravity, time, synchronicities—these have been frequent collaborators.

My work also involves community and human interaction as it relates to design and teaching. I currently volunteer on the Board of AIGA Wisconsin, the professional association for design, and I teach part time at UW-Milwaukee and Ripon College.

I am currently working on a drawing that is endless in size, by way of daily additions. Each piece of this Daydrawing marks a day in time, illustrating an exceptional aspect of that day. The drawings, using powdered graphite, provide a sort of keyhole glimpse into an alternate universe—one that is overlaid, and supplementary to our own.

What are some goals you hope to achieve during your Artist-in-Residency at the Pfister Hotel?

I want the Pfister Hotel studio to act as a nexus connecting people who pass through the building at different points. Visitors to the studio space will be offered an opportunity to contribute source material for my work. Every day, I will make a new work on paper, pulling inspiration from the content I received. The drawings will be created through unique processes I've developed using powdered graphite and will be observable at the studio.

Each completed piece will be displayed on the wall and available for visitors to collect as they depart the hotel and return to their points of origin on the planet. In this way, the set of drawings creates a web linking hotel guests across time and space. A drawing you take home with you will link you to a previous hotel visitor and their personal story. Content of the works on paper will build, overlap, circle back and be recycled to interact with content ideas left by guests at different points in time.

To encourage input from studio visitors, I will establish an artist input station, essentially a drop box, for people to contribute. This will occasionally include specific prompts or requests. People can speak with me directly, of course, but the physical box will provide an opportunity to write an anonymous story, contribute an object or image, and allow guests to be part of my practice even while I am away.

Is there anything else you'd like Shepherd Express readers to know about you, your work, or your Pfister residency?

I would like readers to know many things. I am so grateful for this incredible opportunity to embed my studio within the magnificent Pfister Hotel, and to collaborate with those who pass through its doors. It is a great honor to be the 13th in this roster of awesome Pfister AIR artists.

The curious are welcome to visit the studio to view or purchase drawings. Or follow me on Instagram to watch from a distance (@christophertwood). There will be special events during Milwaukee Gallery Nights throughout the year with the next one scheduled for April 22. These are great days for all to stop in and learn more about my process.